See also

Word classes are categories into which we place words. Traditionally these have been called parts of speech, but word class is now the term used by linguists, and by the UK National Curriculum.

The meanings of words can often be helpful in assigning words to a particular category. This is an effective approach for younger students, but older students can take a more sophisticated approach.

If we rely on a definition such as an adjective being a ‘describing word’, this is very loose: an adjective may well be descriptive in one sense, while an adverb may be equally descriptive in another. You could even argue that nouns and verbs ‘describe’ too. In fact, we often explain to students that words like manufacture are more descriptive than words like make, and so on.

So, as well as the meaning of a word, we have to look at the behaviour of a word among other words: where it occurs in relation to other words and what it does. In other words, we will be looking at distribution and function.

We will also look at form or morphology: the appearance of a word, and how this might give us clues as to its identity.

The major word classes that Englicious looks at are as follows:

noun

pronoun

adjective

verb

preposition

adverb

determiner

conjunction

Some linguists have a slightly different list, but this is the one used in the National Curriculum for England.

The following words have all been classified as nouns. Nouns are typically ‘naming words’, but do all the examples label living beings or concrete things that we can see or touch?

dog

elbow

mud

hat

happiness

joy

football

child

Here are some words that have been classed as pronouns.

I

you

it

them

ours

mine

herself

who

whom

These words have all been classified as determiners. The help identify the noun in front of which they appear.

a

an

the

any

all

each

my

her

his

The following were classed as adjectives. Adjectives can supply an attribute to a noun.

unclear

good

wide

older

logical

remarkable

grateful

youngest

persuasive

fabulous

darker

newest

The next set of words were classified as verbs. Verbs are traditionally thought of as ‘doing words’. How do these examples fit this description?

haul

lifts

must

played

singing

would

feels

illustrate

dignify

be

am

were

lacking

had

The following words have all been classified as prepositions. What do these words have in common? What role do you think they play?

at

of

on

since

than

beside

within

past

alongside

Here is a set of words which were classed as adverbs. Can you see a connection between them?

very

rarely

quickly

unfortunately

suddenly

gradually

quite

sideways

never

soon

outside

Here are some words that were classified as conjunctions.

but

or

and

yet

whereas

while

so

if

although

It’s not always easy when you look at a word by itself to say what kind of word it is.

One word can have multiple meanings. It can also belong to different word classes, depending on how it is used in a sentence. For example, laugh can be a verb (1) or a noun (2):

He
does make me laugh though. [W1B-003 #93]

Ice
skating was a laugh except I have forgotten EVERYTHING. [W1B-004 #87]

As an example of a particularly flexible word, look at how round is used in these sentences:

Again Lewis has stepped up a gear at the start of this round. [S2A-009 #82]

She’s been touring round the country as part of her work, dropping in on us every now and again. [W1B-015 #78]

But to round things off for now here’s a clip from another sequel, ‘Highlander Two’, featuring as before Sean Connery. [S2B-033 #109]

Full Preview

This is a full preview of this page. You can view one page a day like this without registering. But if you wish to use it in your classroom, please register your details on Englicious (for free) and then log in!